


Homo ex machina

by narquoise



Series: 140 or Less [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Androids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3235946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narquoise/pseuds/narquoise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She never cares about the designation number seared onto the nape of his neck—MH-000—or the mock humanity his blue-green 'eyes' exhibit. She only cares about the android that, despite its better judgement, elects to follow her out of fascination.</p><p>[Each chapter 140 words or less.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another writing exercise. Apologies for the brevity.

Molly hadn't realised that she was holding her breath until she gave a shaky exhale.

"What you ask of me I can't give," came the response from the man in front of her. His voice was even—ersatz. In that moment, she would have given anything for any hint of humanity to come bursting forth from it. "It is far beyond my capability." Clearly, that wasn't to be.

"I see." She repeated it once more as if to allow the reality of it to settle. All she wanted to feel was nothing, or at least the sheen of dullness that had, fortunately, temporarily veiled itself over her grief.

"I am sorry." Doubting her ability to stay in his presence any longer, offered him a sombre smile and walked away. He watched her blankly.


	2. Err

"I don't understand." He said it plainly as he was being administered his regular system check. His maker, a stern man in his mid-forties with an aquiline nose, made clear his displeasure with his sudden comment with three brief tuts.

"Do be quiet. I may accidentally port this update with your speech function." His eyes snapped down then, waiting until he had finished.

"What don't you understand?"

"System error. That never happens." To that, his maker merely gave a sigh.

"You are a prototype model. Three years' worth of stimuli has proven too much," he explained. "I will soon replace you with a new model." An odd blip on his notebook screen distracted him temporarily. "Rest assured, your consciousness will be incorporated in him. You will remain."

"I... see." The delay was ignored.


	3. Moot

The system errors came and went. What puzzled Mycroft exceedingly was the fact that despite their recurrence, the android's main functions were perfectly fine. Its mental capacities were still largely intact, albeit in need of occasional maintenance checks every now and then. The algorithms set in place to make it seem more 'human'—blinking and breathing—were still functional. In addition, MH-000 seemed to become increasingly hesitant around that subject matter despite its programming to be completely honest with him.

He mulled it over in the workshop as he assembled MH-001's positronic brain.


	4. Thaumazein

He was presented with the new body he was going to occupy roughly a month later. His current model was unable to express shock and curiosity at it, though Mycroft assumed he (it) might have done so as he reached forward to touch. Mycroft could tell by the very faintest of clicks in its 'brain' that it was trying to process what it was seeing.

"He looks—"

"—very real, yes," Mycroft continued, stepping forward to better observe its one-sided interaction with it. "I've taken the liberty of making MH-001 lifelike. Skin, hair, teeth, eyes... the lot. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to pass into the uncanny valley. I ran a few tests. No one has noticed."

He had the fortune of having a task assigned beforehand, excused himself, and left.

 

_Fortune_.


	5. Thaumazein (Interlude)

_"What you ask of me I can't give."_

 

This was the perfect opportunity to prove otherwise. To prove himself wrong.

 

**_SYSTEM ERROR_ **


	6. Chapter 6

The migration to his new body was not difficult. After a few tests, Mycroft determined that he was quickly able to adapt to the new system. In addition, his 'social' function was given crucial updates that would allow him to integrate better with others, among other updates.

He did not think much on it. The rest of that day was spent trying to adjust to the more natural _human_ appearance, movements and speech, and to the fact that he hadn't suffered from a single system error that day.


	7. (De/Re)construction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long delay. Coursework was, as usual, contributing to the block, which made it all the more difficult to start writing.  
> Time to get back to the writing exercise.

_ask of me what give you can't I_

_can't I ask you what give me of_

_I can't ask me of what give you_

 

_I can give what you ask of me now_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to Diagrammr for the sentence diagram used above.


	8. Research

There he stood in front of the mirror hung above the mantelpiece, watching himself  _smile_. He had seen it on his maker several times, although in hindsight the times he was spent concentrating on some work or thinking about the next old or new project outnumbered it. With so few smiles to base his own out of, he made a  _noise_ of frustration, walked _  
_

and stopped.

 

His mind was filled with numerous references a second later. Stock images and real, candid images of smiles. There were so many smiles.

 

His brow creased.


	9. Further Research Needed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I understand it's been a while. As such, the fic's been duly updated.

Despite the plethora of information stored in his vast memory banks regarding smiles and the confidence that should have instilled in him, the frown seemed the most comfortable (and perhaps, arguably,  _natural_ ) expression. In light of this, he tried to grasp how he could achieve the same effect with smiles to produce one that he could _identify_ with. 

Being himself was Priority One.


End file.
